Our main interest is to understand the factors which have been most significant in determining the pattern and rates of recent human evolution. We find climate has significantly affected anthropometric data; probably less so the gene frequencies. The latter are believed to be, on this and other grounds, a better indicator of evolutionary history. The influence of major technological developments, e.g. the introduction of agriculture, has probably been of major influence also in determining evolutionary patterns, by a sort of intergroup ("demic") selection, and has also affected, directly and indirectly, the incidence of some important genetic diseases.